Airlines: There’s No Good, Just Bad and Ugly

I’m going to take short break in my vacation storytelling to rant about my current situation.

So, about a week and a half ago, I was told that Korean Air from Seoul to Chicago changed their flight time so that it departed sooner than previously scheduled. Based on my original arrival time I had from Dalian to Seoul, I didn’t have enough time scheduled between the two flights to make the connecting flight valid. I was given the option of going on the waitlist or take my chances and try to make the original flight. Since I didn’t want to risk being stranded in Seoul I opted for the waitlist, a decision I’ve come to regret.

My new flight itinerary has me set to fly out of Dalian on August 16th instead of the 15th. Instead of traveling from Dalian through Seoul and Chicago on my way to Cedar Rapids, I’ll need to go From Dalian through Seoul, LA(where I’ll have to clear customs now), Dallas/Ft. Worth and then to Cedar Rapids. If I’m lucky, I’ll get back to Postville around 11:00pm.

When it’s all said and done, I’ll arrive home a day and a half later than originally scheduled and spend approximately 28 combined hours in planes and at airports. I’ll be amazed if my baggage isn’t lost. If it wasn’t for the fact that all of the sleeper cars where full on a three day train ride from LA to LaCrosse, WI I would have taken Amtrak. I’m extremely disappointed, especially since I thought that Korean Air was such a wonder flight in February.

Additional news involves my first experience at a modeling competition. The competition was just ok. It was mostly a bunch of tall, underweight girls walking around in strange looking clothing. Unfortunately, the most excitement came when an obviously very heavy prop wall fell over and flattened at least 3-4 back ground dancers who where then taken away by ambulance. I was disappointed to see that once the wall was lifted off of the injured the security officers felt that they would be most useful standing shoulder to shoulder on stage in an effort to block the audience from watching. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think that possessing knowledge of and implementing first aid should also be included in their job descriptions. Let’s hope that everyone is OK.